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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Yoga For Boxers?

Boxers and Trainers,

There is more to yoga than stretch pants, unusual poses, and overpriced yoga mats. Doing yoga is a must for a boxer that wants to become a complete and fully-functioning athlete. Take away the mysticism, spirituality,andincense and what you have is a complete and demanding regimen of stretching exercises that should be a part of your training schedule.

A boxer becomes a complete athlete with the help of yoga exercises. The stretches, especially for someone new to yoga, shocks under-used muscles, tendons, and nerves to life. It creates flexibility and the ability to move in a new, more fluid way. And don't let the slow movement and breathing fool you--even the softer forms of yoga are difficult and strenuous on the whole body. And regardless of how experienced one becomes at yoga, there are always new positions to learn and use.

Waking up those nerves, tendons, and muscles makes the boxer stronger by putting the whole body fully into play. Only when you awaken those body parts are you able to use them 100% for more power, speed, strength and flexibility. Recovery time from injury and damage to the body is also shortened because more of the body is being used to help itself recover. Yoga should be done daily so that you will be able to train harder and longer. Yoga should be done when you wake up, before workout, and after the workout with other cool-down exercises.

Yoga also has the added benefit of helping digestion and weight management. Forget about sitting in a sauna to sweat out those extra couple of pounds before a fight -- there are few things that can make you run to the bathroom faster than the reverse triangle position! The twisting and stretching motions of yoga help blood flow and help you work up a sweat. Just ditch the yoga pants. You never know who's watching.